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'Millennials' thrive on choice, instant results

Rudman calls these teens the "flux gen" because their culture is driven by ever-accelerating technological change. It took a generation for TV to become a household fixture, but much of today's technology is here and gone in a matter of months, forcing teens to adapt on the fly.

Instant messaging is a case in point. Rudman said it was teens' favorite way of communicating -- last year.

"It's now kind of turning to MySpace," he said. "MySpace is a bit more three-dimensional."

One of the teens in the study, identified only as "Rubin, 18," put it this way: "Techy stuff is what everyone likes. The iPod craze has taken over at our school. I barely see people with CD players; they have been replaced with MP3 players."

Understanding the millennial mind -- its penchant for connectivity and customization -- has larger implications than selling sneakers and cell-phone minutes. It also affects such basic issues as how to structure classroom learning.

"The whole (educational) system is archaic and it has to be rebuilt," said Gen Y expert Richard Sweeney, a librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Sweeney said the traditional classroom lecture is at odds with the choice, interactivity and rapid response millennials have come to expect from the tech world.

College-age millennials especially dislike being limited to one course taught by one professor. To get around this, they sometimes enroll in distance-learning courses even when they live on campus.

"These kids are saying to us, 'We want alternatives in the way we learn,' " he said.





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Not only are millennials socially interconnected and geared to
instant results, but evidence suggests they have different
personalities than their elders.

Sweeney illustrates this with findings from the Northeastern Ohio
College of Medicine, where millennials were found to differ
significantly from Gen X medical students in 10 of 16 traits on a
standard personality test.

Millennials scored higher on warmth, abstract reasoning, emotional
stability, rule-consciousness, social boldness, sensitivity,
apprehension, openness to change and perfectionism. Gen X'ers scored
higher on self-reliance.

"These are lifelong, cultural changes," Sweeney said. "You don't change your personality very much once it's formed."

Millennials are rugged individuals in one sense -- how they spend
their time and money. They shop from a wide range of brands and like to
personalize their gear.

"They have no need to conform to a generational norm," Sweeney said. "They're very independent in their consumer habits."

Case in point: Unlike the baby boomers, who rallied around the
Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the millennials have no unifying,
generational music. Rap, classical -- anything goes, Sweeney said.

Rudman agreed.

"The trend," he said, "is that there isn't a trend. This generation
is all about choice -- being able to find something and make it your
own."

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